Capitol Hill

A gain and a loss

Recently, the roofing industry has experienced victory and loss on Capitol Hill. With debate about issues such as the Employee Free Choice Act and comprehensive immigration reform—both of which have major implications for the roofing industry—expected to resume after the 2008 election, NRCA is continuing to join with other business organizations to litigate where necessary and maintain a presence in Washington, D.C., to have a maximum effect on these issues.

Labor relations victory

On June 26, the U.S. Senate blocked the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800), also called the "card-check" bill, when it failed to garner the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture. The cloture motion failed 51-48 with all Democrats and one Repub­lican voting in favor of the motion.

The House voted 241-185 in favor of the bill on March 1 (see "Gridlock," June issue, page 20). But even if it had passed in the Senate, President Bush had pledged to veto the bill because it would fundamentally alter the National Labor Relations Act by replacing secret-ballot elections with a union authorization card (card-check) system for employees to decide whether to form a union.

Log in or register for FREE access to this article and other Professional Roofing online content.